{"id":23461,"date":"2024-02-06T12:04:57","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T12:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=23461"},"modified":"2025-12-19T07:55:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T07:55:31","slug":"on-mother-kellys-doorstep","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/on-mother-kellys-doorstep\/","title":{"rendered":"On Mother Kelly’s Doorstep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1925<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>George A Stevens<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN38999<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Fred Barnes, Randolph Sutton<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Ling, Ruby ; England : Suffolk ; 1975-80
Whyte, Bryce ; Scotland : Angus : 1975<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From Music Hall Memories No 20<\/strong>\n\nI\u2019ve just been lingering all alone Down Paradise Row\nWhen I was a kiddie, I\u2019d a sweetheart, and down there we would go\nI\u2019d call her Nelly and she\u2019d call me Joe\nAnd we would romp there hand in hand\nThen we\u2019d both sit down on a doorstep there\nAnd we\u2019d picture the future grand.\n\nOn Mother Kelly\u2019s doorstep, down Paradise Row\nI\u2019d sit along o\u2019 Nelly, she\u2019d sit along o\u2019 Joe\nShe\u2019d got a little hole in her frock, hole in her shoe\nHole in her sock where her toe peep\u2019d thro\u2019\nBut Nelly was the smartest down our Alley\nOn Mother Kelly\u2019s doorstep, I\u2019m wondering now\nIf li\u2019l gal Nelly remembers Joe, her beau\nAnd does she love me like she used to?\nOn Mother Kelly\u2019s doorstep, down Paradise Row<\/em>\n\nThe cobblestones were a meadow sweet, to Nelly and me\nThe smoky chimney on the housetop was a beautiful tree\nAnd old Brown\u2019s donkey was a big baa-lamb\nAnd Mother Kelly in the house\nOn a wash-day, holding her pail, was Mary \nThe milk maid milking cows<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A big hit for Fred Barnes<\/a> in the British Halls of the late 1920s, later also sung by  Randolph Sutton<\/a>. It has been recorded by a huge number of singers, including: Danny LaRue, Frankie Vaughan, Dorothy Squires and Barbara Windsor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its an extremely well-known song, and was widely sung in pubs across Britain, so it is perhaps surprising that it only features in the repertoire of two traditional singers. On the other hand it probably indicates the efficiency with which collectors managed not to collect Music Hall songs of this type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Randolph Sutton sings it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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